Colorado Rockies: Did they focus too much on pitching?

It’s one of the happiest times of the year for Colorado Rockies fans and baseball fans all over the world. Though the winter has been long and pretty uneventful with the free agent market, it’s officially almost time for baseball once again.

Now I love this time of year with all my heart. I’m especially excited to see the Rockies begin Spring Training, but I still have questions about the team’s offseason moves. Actually, I have  just one question in particular.

Did they focus too much on pitching this offseason?

The Rockies made good offseason moves in order to improve upon what they believed were their weak spots. Yes, signing three dependable relievers, including Bryan Shaw and Wade Davis, was a giant step toward solidifying the back end of the bullpen that will only help. Don’t get me wrong. I know that they also signed Chris Iannetta as well, but everyone’s eyes this offseason have been on the pitchers.

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Yes, these were much needed additions in order to further the Rockies agenda. It just seems as though they only had the pitching situation in mind.

If you think ahead to the end of the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the Rockies have a trio of critical contracts that will be up. Essentially the big names of the franchise: Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, and DJ LeMahieu. Speaking of LeMahieu, our own Kevin Henry talks about the possibility of this being his last season in Colorado. With those three men and their futures in Denver in mind, was it a mistake to spend a total amount of $114.5 million on pitching?

I’m only pondering the idea of that money going towards contract extensions to the guys I mentioned above. Perhaps only signing Davis or Shaw or maybe both … but no Jake McGee and no Iannetta. As a fan of a specific team, it’s truly hard to see players who have been with the franchise so long leave, but maybe it could be prevented.

One of Colorado’s main objectives should be securing certain players in order to push a playoff campaign. Being able to accomplish that shows not only fans, but players alike that winning the World Series is still on the agenda in Denver.

Another route could’ve been taken by the Rockies. If they weren’t too fond of the free agent market, there was always the option to trade. I recently talked about a potential trade for Justin Bour. This is exactly what the Rockies National League West neighbor in San Francisco did and they seem to just be stockpiling for 2018.

Another hypothetical would’ve also been maybe just signing position players while developing the young arms in the bullpen along with the rotation arms. In actuality, there are many different avenues the Rockies could have taken, but we’ll see what happens this season.

Next: 4 key Rockies spring training battles to watch

Final Thoughts

There’s no way around not talking about how the Rockies did this offseason. When you really think about their moves though, it does raise some questions. Those questions can only be answered when the season is started.

The Rockies front office had a checklist of the concerns they needed to resolve. Don’t get me wrong. They did do that … but did they go about it the wrong way? Perhaps signing a position player may have been more suitable or the super bullpen will come through in vital times. As Spring Training rolls around, we’ll finally be able to see if the Rockies truly did focus too much on pitching.